Principal Communications
Newsletter - October 3rd
On my way home Friday evening, I reviewed some of the pictures and videos taken during the week to post on social media. I was very excited to see all the experiences that we created as a school for students and families, and then I felt very proud of being part of this amazing school community. If you don't follow us, please connect with us on Instagram and the newly updated website, where you can find information and updates.
For October, you can expect updates on Hispanic Heritage Month, and you will learn more about the School Comprehensive Plan (CSP). This document serves as the compass to show the direction in which we go as a school, and it’s also our anchor to help us ground the work we do. Last week we started with one of the dimensions (parent engagement). We’ll also provide weekly updates with key information and dates.
Please take a few minutes to go over the following announcements and reminders, and please reach out if you have comments or questions.
Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) - Academics
The CSP is a living document focused on priority work that aligns to DCPS’s Capital Commitment and Stategic Plan. The strategies outlined in the CSP respond to the needs of our students and are grounded in data. The LSAT and the ALT are two forms for community engagement that contribute to making this visionary document the best version of itself. Thought the month, we’ll unpack each one of the domains of the CSP starting with Academics this week.
The main goal for school this year will remain narrowing the linguistic, racial and ability opportunity gap by 3% at OA as measured by standardized test in Math, English and Spanish. To achieve this, we will continue implementing, for the second year, all principles, practices, and research of the Science of Reading (SOR). Last year, our students grew significantly in early biliteracy, and that is why this will be the focus of our professional learning for this year. During our PD session on 10/13, the admin team, instructional coaches, and the American University Coaches will launch the series of trainings on SOR, with emphasis on word recognition for the lower grades: phonological awareness, decoding and spelling, and sight recognition. The second part of the Scarborough’s Rope Model for Reading is language comprehension: background knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, language structures, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge) in the upper grades.
We are also excited to launch a pilot program in middle school: accelerated math in 6th and 7th grades and Algebra I in 8th grade. We have also revamped the enrichment classes to help all students meet the expectations of this rigorous curriculum. We will continue using illustrative math like the rest of the District, which has shown to improve students' achievement based on our PARCC data from last year. This year, we are also going to create additional support spaces for our students who are not on grade level through the Targeted Academic Growth (TAG) in English, Spanish, and Math at both campuses. However, we’re still looking for two teachers for these classes.
This year, we will review our paired literacy model in Humanities (English and Spanish) and to align the content to newly released Social Studies standards for DCPS.
Finally, we will continue exploring additional classes, the incorporation of computer science classes, and revising the science curriculum with the end in mind of becoming a STEM certified school in a few years.
Announcements, Reminders
- We’re currently recruiting MS students who want to participate in the debate team. Debate is a fun and educational competition (and scholarly community) where students learn to advocate, research, speak, listen, and find their voices. Students will learn about the world around them and current affairs, especially surrounding this year's topic, Economic Inequality. In each round, pairs of students face off against pairs from other schools in a battle of wits and preparation at tournaments featuring students from more than 70 local public schools (and counting). Find "your people" in debate, as well as free food, fun, and trophies, and get a leg up for college too! The team is for everyone, whether you want to help Oyster return to Middle School Nationals for the 4th year in a row, or just to have some fun and make friends. Sign up Today via Christine Miller at [email protected]
- Here is the information: given the positive impact debate has on reading, interrupting text, etc., and will post flyers at school. Here is the schedule for this year's debate tournaments; the first one is scheduled for October 14
- We received hard copies of the PARCC results for all students in grades 3-8 from last year. Those results will be sent via regular mail starting today. You can also access additional information through the OSSE website.
- Last week, we had our School Improvement Team (SIT) meeting to go over some options for the playground. Here is the presentation for your reference. The next virtual meeting to provide feedback is next on 10/5 from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
- We continue working with DDOT to request crossing guards for the Adams campus. Staff at Adams is currently supporting the task and OCC is looking for volunteers to support our families. Here you can find [additional information](https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4CABA929A0FB6-44752140-adams
Key important Dates for October
- 10/2: In-person Escuela de Padres at Oyster: Early Literacy (Kindergarten) from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
- 10/4: In-person Escuela de Padres at Oyster: Early Literacy (1st grade) from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
- 10/9: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No school
- 10/3: Panorama survey starts.
- 10/12: Virtual LSAT meeting from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
- 10/13: In-person Hispanic Heritage Month Showcases for grades 4-8 (time to be announced)
- 10/13: La Noche at Adams from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
- 10/19: Hybrid Parent Teacher Conferences (times to be communicated by teachers in newsletters)
- 10/20: District-led PD Day: no school for students.
- 10/26: Virtual ALT meeting from 4:00-5:00 p.m.
- 10/30-11/3 Spirit week (themes to be announced)
- TBD: Virtual OCC meeting
- TBD: Fire and/or other emergency drill
This is all for today--we hope you have a great week!
